Rating - 3: worth reading once (borrow it from a library)
This is the third PostSecret book. If you have not seen PostSecret, now is your chance. The idea is simple: people anonymously confess their secrets to the world via postcards, a participatory art project and catharsis. The site is a collection of sins, loves, regrets, and desires.
If the site interests you, the book will interest you. You can connect to unknown others and find that you are not so different, or perhaps completely different and comforted by that. The world contains multitudes.
You see repetition over time, and not even very much time. It seems that many of our secrets are very similar. I never told him I loved him, and now he is dead or married to someone else. I am in love. I regret having/not having children. I am trapped in this life and I do not know how to escape. My life has never been better. I have decided not to commit suicide. I have a fetish. I have lost my faith. She doesn't know that I know.
Whatever your secret is, someone else probably is living with the same one. You are not alone.
Amazon link
PostSecret
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
Rating - 2: not worth reading (skip it)
I feel bad about always giving Arthur C. Clarke poor ratings, since I sincerely like his books. The Rendezvous with Rama and 2001 series are great classics, 3s and 4s the lot of them. This book, however, I cannot recommend unless you are already a fan of Mr. Clarke's writing and want a chance to luxuriate in it. Imperial Earth could never be a 4 because it is not tightly packed enough to warrant it. The book meanders about, takes digressions at its whim, and eventually remember to have a plot.
Duncan Makenzie is the clone/"grandson" of the founder and administrator of Titan, Titan's moon that supplies the solar system with fuel hydrogen in 2276. The original Makenzie is a brilliant engineer and a great leader, but he has a genetic flaw that prevents him from having children normally. When Earth invites a Makenzie to take part in celebrating America's 500th anniversary, Duncan heads to the motherworld to represent his moon and bring back another cloned Makenzie to continue the line. While there, he explores Earth civilization and how emerging changes might affect his home of Titan.
Much science fiction is a thinly veiled commentary on our own times. There is no film to speak of here. Despite being a science fiction book starring an off-worlder, most of the book takes place on an Earth that is nostalgic and very much living in its history. Future-Washington DC is a living museum of current-Washington DC. This uses a basic template for science fiction set in the present day: bring in an alien to explore Earth and wonder at the oddities humans do.
The technology, while often prescient, is mostly hidden. Duncan travels on the fastest ship in existence, which uses a singularity drive that (conveniently) no one really understands. There are Star Trek replicators for food and other items. People carry souped-up Palm Pilots, which must have seemed very futuristic in 1976. In many ways, sufficiently advanced science is a good way to present it: it keeps you from using technobabble or looking stupid ten years later when the scientific theory you used is falsified. It does not veer into fantasy of the "really, these elves are based on science" variety.
Instead, this is mostly social commentary, half of which functions by not being said. The impact comes from the different cultural assumptions. The protagonist's race is not mentioned until half-way through the book; it is not important to him. Everyone is assumed to be in an open bisexual relationship, which works until it is repeated too often and taken to the point that being otherwise (in any direction) is described as a strange and distasteful fetish. Karl is a real man: he does not care whether he has more male or female lovers. Compared to Heinlein, it is remarkably restrained.
The three foundational authors of science fiction form a spectrum on a variety of issues: Heinlein, the radical individualist and libertarian; Asimov, who wrote as if the Hayekian knowledge problem could be overcome if only our science and computers were strong enough to give us effective central planning; and Clarke, who seems a moderate on most issues. It may be "Imperial" Earth, but the homeworld's relationship with Titan is nothing like the one that sparked the American Revolution that Duncan comes to celebrate. Our primary actor is a technically private but quasi-governmental planner who understands that his expertise is limited. Earth government seems mostly hidden or ceremonial, and where present well-intentioned but not as competent as it wishes it were. Businesses have their troubles keeping up, too.
Back on Earth... why are we back on Earth? Earth in 2276, but reliving its history as much as possible, as seen through the eyes of Titan: that is a long way to go to comment on 1976. How convenient that Earth 300 years from now looks almost exactly like today, but with more trees. The device seems a bit obvious and forced.
Oh yes, Earth has more trees and fewer people. As I said, this is a great book if you enjoy Mr. Clarke's writing, and it bears the imprint of most of his ideas and tendencies. We have already cited his post-gender, post-ethnic humanity. Earth itself has cut back to a half-billion people, and humanity has used improved communication and transportation to all but abandon urban life. You may recall a similar description from Childhood's End. People are fundamentally well-intentioned, and foolishness is a greater problem than malice. There are lots of scientific and technological ideas, sketched by people who will admit to not fully understanding them. There are great forces in the universe that may so outstrip mankind's range as to be incomprehensible.
You can see where an editor or screenwriter could cut as much as a third of the book without affecting the story or doing much to character development. As I said, you luxuriate in the book rather than having a compact story. If that is your thing, the book is a three; if not, it is a two.
Amazon link
I feel bad about always giving Arthur C. Clarke poor ratings, since I sincerely like his books. The Rendezvous with Rama and 2001 series are great classics, 3s and 4s the lot of them. This book, however, I cannot recommend unless you are already a fan of Mr. Clarke's writing and want a chance to luxuriate in it. Imperial Earth could never be a 4 because it is not tightly packed enough to warrant it. The book meanders about, takes digressions at its whim, and eventually remember to have a plot.
Duncan Makenzie is the clone/"grandson" of the founder and administrator of Titan, Titan's moon that supplies the solar system with fuel hydrogen in 2276. The original Makenzie is a brilliant engineer and a great leader, but he has a genetic flaw that prevents him from having children normally. When Earth invites a Makenzie to take part in celebrating America's 500th anniversary, Duncan heads to the motherworld to represent his moon and bring back another cloned Makenzie to continue the line. While there, he explores Earth civilization and how emerging changes might affect his home of Titan.
Much science fiction is a thinly veiled commentary on our own times. There is no film to speak of here. Despite being a science fiction book starring an off-worlder, most of the book takes place on an Earth that is nostalgic and very much living in its history. Future-Washington DC is a living museum of current-Washington DC. This uses a basic template for science fiction set in the present day: bring in an alien to explore Earth and wonder at the oddities humans do.
The technology, while often prescient, is mostly hidden. Duncan travels on the fastest ship in existence, which uses a singularity drive that (conveniently) no one really understands. There are Star Trek replicators for food and other items. People carry souped-up Palm Pilots, which must have seemed very futuristic in 1976. In many ways, sufficiently advanced science is a good way to present it: it keeps you from using technobabble or looking stupid ten years later when the scientific theory you used is falsified. It does not veer into fantasy of the "really, these elves are based on science" variety.
Instead, this is mostly social commentary, half of which functions by not being said. The impact comes from the different cultural assumptions. The protagonist's race is not mentioned until half-way through the book; it is not important to him. Everyone is assumed to be in an open bisexual relationship, which works until it is repeated too often and taken to the point that being otherwise (in any direction) is described as a strange and distasteful fetish. Karl is a real man: he does not care whether he has more male or female lovers. Compared to Heinlein, it is remarkably restrained.
The three foundational authors of science fiction form a spectrum on a variety of issues: Heinlein, the radical individualist and libertarian; Asimov, who wrote as if the Hayekian knowledge problem could be overcome if only our science and computers were strong enough to give us effective central planning; and Clarke, who seems a moderate on most issues. It may be "Imperial" Earth, but the homeworld's relationship with Titan is nothing like the one that sparked the American Revolution that Duncan comes to celebrate. Our primary actor is a technically private but quasi-governmental planner who understands that his expertise is limited. Earth government seems mostly hidden or ceremonial, and where present well-intentioned but not as competent as it wishes it were. Businesses have their troubles keeping up, too.
Back on Earth... why are we back on Earth? Earth in 2276, but reliving its history as much as possible, as seen through the eyes of Titan: that is a long way to go to comment on 1976. How convenient that Earth 300 years from now looks almost exactly like today, but with more trees. The device seems a bit obvious and forced.
Oh yes, Earth has more trees and fewer people. As I said, this is a great book if you enjoy Mr. Clarke's writing, and it bears the imprint of most of his ideas and tendencies. We have already cited his post-gender, post-ethnic humanity. Earth itself has cut back to a half-billion people, and humanity has used improved communication and transportation to all but abandon urban life. You may recall a similar description from Childhood's End. People are fundamentally well-intentioned, and foolishness is a greater problem than malice. There are lots of scientific and technological ideas, sketched by people who will admit to not fully understanding them. There are great forces in the universe that may so outstrip mankind's range as to be incomprehensible.
You can see where an editor or screenwriter could cut as much as a third of the book without affecting the story or doing much to character development. As I said, you luxuriate in the book rather than having a compact story. If that is your thing, the book is a three; if not, it is a two.
Amazon link
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